Shares of fintech major Paytm plunged over 13 per cent to hit an all-time low of Rs 672.10 after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked Paytm Payments Bank to immediately stop opening new accounts amid "material supervisory concerns" observed in the bank. Currently, the stock is trading 65 per cent down from its all-time high of Rs 1,961.05. It opened 12 per cent down at Rs 684 against the previous close of Rs 774.80 on the BSE. The market cap of the company slipped below Rs 45,000 crore on the BSE during early trade hours. The stock has been on a downward trend and has tanked over 49 per cent on a year-to-date basis. The shares are trading lower than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages. In an official order released on Friday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed Paytm Payment's Bank to stop onboarding new customers on its platform with immediate effect. The bank has also been directed to appoint an IT audit firm to conduct a comprehensive System Audit of its IT system. This action is based on certain material supervisory concerns observed in the bank, the statement said. "Onboarding of new customers by Paytm Payments Bank Ltd will be subject to specific permission to be granted by RBI after reviewing report of the IT auditors," the central bank said in a statement. Paytm said it has been informed that RBI's action does not impact any existing customers of PPBL, who can continue to use all banking and payment services without interruption. "All existing users of Paytm UPI, Paytm Wallet, Paytm FASTag, and bank accounts can continue to use these instruments, including debit cards and net banking, for payments," it said. "The bank is taking immediate steps to comply with RBI directions, including appointment of a reputed external auditor to conduct a comprehensive system audit of its IT systems. PPBL remains committed to working with the regulator to address their concerns as quickly as possible," the company added.
"We were estimating Paytm’s consumer base to grow by 10% in FY23E and monthly transacting users to increase at >25% run-rate. The company will have to increase its efforts to enhance engagement with the existing user base to offset the adverse impact of the embargo on new users," it said.
"Now, expecting moderation in the onboarding of new users and the adverse impact on incremental payment revenue (as wallets are key monetisable payment instruments), we revise our target price to Rs 1,285 (earlier Rs 1,352). Also, it may defer Paytm Payments Bank’s plan to apply for conversion into a small finance bank (though eligible to apply from May 22)," ICICI Securities added.
“Paytm's recent ban on adding new customers due to likely gaps in its technology systems is definitely going to hurt the business sentiments. The immediate impact will be negative. However, Paytm has already on boarded a very large customer base onto the payments bank, but the ban may affect their chances of upgrading to a small finance bank. The stock may see more selling pressure and may touch the level of 500 in the medium term," said Ravi Singh, Head of Research and Vice President, Share India.
"The overall market is in correction mode. New age internet stocks like Zomato, Nykaa, or Paytm are also facing massive selling pressure. This may continue for some more trading sessions. However, a buying opportunity may arise if these stocks fall another 3–5%. Investors may take a fresh entry, keeping a view of the long term," he added.
Paytm Payments Bank was incorporated in August 2016 and formally began its operations in May 2017 from a branch in Noida. Paytm Payments Bank had 64 million savings accounts as of March 31, 2021 and over Rs 5,200 crore in deposits. It was also the largest Unified Payments Interface beneficiary bank, with the lowest technical decline rate among beneficiary and remitter banks. Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led One 97 Communications had made a tepid debut on November 18 last year. The scrip got listed at a discount of 9.30 per cent at Rs 1,950 on the NSE against the issue price of Rs 2,150 per share.